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Oklahoma State dropped its first three-game weekend series at home last weekend against Eastern Michigan; the Cowboys took the first game of the series but late-inning rallies by the Eagles led to losses on Saturday and Sunday. Dallas Baptist takes a trip up I-35 for a midweek game today at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium before the Pokes conclude their seven-game homestand this weekend with games against Seton Hall (Friday and Sunday) and Missouri State (Saturday).

Highlights and Notes

Colin Simpson leads OSU in eight offensive categories, including batting average (.321) and RBIs (13). The junior was 7-for-18 (.389) with a homer, two doubles and four RBIs in four games last week.

Andrew Rosa leads the team in runs with 15 and on-base percentage at .473. He also ranks seventh in the NCAA in hit by pitches with eight.

Freshman Dylan Gardner earned his first-career start at second base on Saturday against Eastern Michigan and went 1-for-2 with two RBIs.

First baseman Christian Funk led OSU at the plate last week as he hit .412 (7-for-17) over the four games with two doubles, a homer and six RBIs. He posted a .706 slugging percentage and .474 on-base percentage.

OSU boasts three regulars hitting .300 or better on the season — Simpson, Rosa (.308) and Matt Kroon (.300).

Big 12/National Spotlight

Teel ranks third in the Big 12 in ERA with his 1.45 mark. He is also tied for third in saves with three, which matches his output from last season. He is holding opponents to a .175 batting average, which ranks second in the conference, and his 25 strikeouts are tied for sixth.

Jonathan Heasley is tied for third in the league in strikeouts with 28 after recording seven last week against EMU. He has had six or more strikeouts in each of his four starts this season.

Rosa is tied for third in the Big 12 with two triples, while Simpson is tied for seventh in the league in doubles with six.

Up Next

OSU hosts Dallas Baptist today at 3 p.m. at Reynolds Stadium.

The Patriots are 8-6 on the season, but 0-4 in road games thus far. They are coming off a series victory against Oral Roberts.

DBU's pitching staff has 140 strikeouts through 14 games this season. Its 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings ranks No. 20 in the country.

The Patriots also rank No. 12 in the nation in doubles per game with 2.5 per game.

Oklahoma State is 11-4 in the all-time series against DBU, including a perfect 4-0 mark under head coach Josh Holliday.

Tap the brakes. We finished in the top 2 of the big 12 his first 4 years (2 supers and almost won it all 2 years ago) and won the Big 12 tournament as the 8th seed last year (which was arguably as impressive/rewarding as the CWS run). We’ve had some bad breaks with injuries and the draft the last 2 years. If Elliott, Scott, and Standlee are mixed in with Teel, Heasley, Lienhard, Varela, and Basso a lot of these pitchers who are struggling aren’t playing and our staff would be top notch. The hitting has been below average the last few years and needs to improve. .275 is average/solid and we’ve been in the .260’s (even worse so far this year). Texas Tech hits .300 every year...If McCain and Benge had come back and our 3 recruits who went high in the draft get to campus we’d have a stacked lineup (ifs and buts I know). Definitely have to figure out how to develop what we have but Coach Holliday has been great and is a perfect fit. Also Walton had the best pitching staff in the conference for 4 straight years. We’ve just had some bad luck with personnel and baseball is tough. I follow the program extremely close and can see the factors that have combined to make things the way they currently are. Doesn’t make it less frustrating but there are some legitimate explanations that some won’t see if they don’t follow closely. I trust Walton (go look at previous years stats). His track record speaks for itself and injuries have wrecked key pieces of this staff. I do think we need to either recruit better hitters (that won’t go in the draft) or change some of our hitting philosophy because we have been below average at hitting even going back to our CWS run (pitching was that good to take us that far).

Sheriff

I know it is early but it has been ugly! Btw this was their first road win of the season. What was particularly frustrating tonight is watching and listening to the game you would of thought it was a home game for dbu. They were the confident team, OSU not.

Greenhorn

I know it is early but it has been ugly! Btw this was their first road win of the season. What was particularly frustrating tonight is watching and listening to the game you would of thought it was a home game for dbu. They were the confident team, OSU not.